Falling Apart
by Catalina H
Summary: Just when you think things are starting to get normal...part 1 of 2. SEQUEL TO: So...Where Do We Go From Here? disclaimer: i don't own numbers
1. Chapter 1

Falling Apart...

Chapter 1

It had been three weeks since he found out he had 17 year old twins. They had moved into his spare bedroom, and apparently didn't mind sharing it. Ande had said, "We've shared a room since we got home from the hospital, you really think we're gonna start caring now?" That had been the end of that particular conversation. He hadn't gotten them successful transfered to their new school last week, and they seemed to be adjusting fairly well. Alex joined the track team, and was already moving to the top of the class. Ande, on the other hand, had successfully managed to get practically every teacher in the school to hate her, with the exception being the soccer coach. The day of soccer tryouts he had gotten a call from her principal after an ambulance had to be called for one of the kids from the boy's varsity team when she decided to use him as target practice. When picking her up, the coach remarked that, "She has better aim with her foot than most cops have with a gun."

They all seemed to be adjusting to each better than expected, everything considered. However, things were still very awkward. The extent of their conversations was usually no more than polite chit chat. To top everything off, his dad, despite being happy to finally have grandchildren, was still giving him a disappointed look every time he saw him. His brother was quite the opposite, surprisingly. Charlie seemed to welcome his niece and nephew with open arms, although with little comment on the situation itself. Don, himself, was still working on the whole father thing though. He had never really been around kids that much, and he wasn't sure how to handle all the pressures and worry that fatherhood brought. Sure, when it came to criminals and rushing to try and solve a case before it was too late, that he could handle. Making sure his kids kept up in school, got home at a reasonable hour, and weren't getting into too much trouble, that was a whole different ball game.

"Hey dad," Don said as he entered the craftsman home.

"Hey Donnie," Alan responded, looking up from his paper, "Where's Ande and Alex?"

"They're still at school, I think."

"You think?," his father gave him a curious expression.

"Yeah, I think. Why? They'll be here in a little while," Don said in a rather sarcastic tone, knowing the direction this conversation had gone.

"You should know for sure where your kids are, Donnie, not think," Alan stated matter-of-factly.

"Come on dad, I know where they are," he really didn't want to have this conversation.

"Oh really? Then why did you add the 'I think' when you said they were at school?"

"Because, who knows, they might've finished practice early and be on their way here right now," he recognized this tone, although he was usually hearing it from his daughter, not himself.

"Fine, fine," Alan said, but clearly not ready to end the talk.

"What?"

"OK, it's just that," his father was starting to get the tone he used when he was lecturing his sons, "you're a father now, Donnie, and you need to start acting like it."

"What are you talking about? I do act like it."

"No, no you don't."

"Well, then what do you suggest?," Don was clearly starting to show his exasperation from the, recently closed, case he'd been on.

"First of all, you shouldn't have gotten Sarah pregnant!," his father hadn't brought this subject up until now, even though Don knew it had been coming. Alan sighed and sat back down in his chair. _Here we go, _Don thought.

"Look, dad," Don started apologetically, "I'm sorry. But it's not exactly like we'd planned on it," he paused. "She never even told me about it."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry too." Alan took a deep breath, looked his eldest son straight in the eye, and with all sincerity, "If you ever need any tips..."

"Thanks, dad," Don replied, grateful that maybe now they could move past the disappointment.

After Don, Ande, and Alex got back to the apartment after dinner they started their usual routine. Don and Alex flicked through the channels on the TV, while Ande was going through e-mails and finishing up the homework she had put off.

Alex decided to call it a night before Ande or Don, and after muttering a quick "goodnight" to each went to lay down. He was feeling unusually exhausted tonight so he decided to make sure he had all his school stuff in his backpack. He went to pick up his notebook when a picture fell onto the floor, probably hidden away until now. When he noticed which picture it was he felt a sudden rush of emotions, it was one taken of him, Ande, and their mother in Golden Gate Park three months before the car crash. Before he knew it, tears started coming, and he cried himself to sleep, clutching the picture in his hand.

About an hour after Alex had said goodnight, Ande put her computer and homework back into her backpack. On her way to the room she noticed Don had fallen asleep on the couch, but didn't wake him. As she put down her backpack by her bed she heard a sniffle coming from Alex's direction. She went over to her brother, noticing the tear stains on his face and the picture in his hand. She slowly removed the picture, kissed his forehead, and whispered "I love you, Al" in his ear. Walking back over and sitting on her bed, she looked to see which picture had upset her brother. She remembered it well. It was their first family vacation with just the three of them, usually family vacations consisted of visiting family in Peru. Ande also remembered why her mother had insisted they go away for the weekend, and she was furious. Instead of facing the anger she was feeling toward her mother at the moment, Ande merely threw the picture back in the drawer and went to bed.

The next morning Ande left right after Don, she wanted to take out her frustrations from the night before, and where better to do it than the martial arts center she occasionally helped teach at. Since she would sometimes help out teaching classes the guy who ran the gym let her come in whenever she liked. This morning was one of those when she just wanted to start hitting something, so she started taking out her anger out on one of the punching bags.

When Alex woke up to find that the picture was back in the drawer and Ande had already left, he had a pretty good idea where she'd gone. He knew his sister well enough to know that even though the picture had made him feel more alone than ever, it had also pissed her off. And since he knew better than to bother her when she got into these moods, he headed to school without bothering to wonder if she'd even show up.

Back at the gym, Ande was starting to wear herself, along with the punching bag, out. She knew she'd already missed first period, but she wasn't worried about that. Yet. She knew she'd have to hear Don yell at her for skipping school, but she was too preoccupied to care at the moment. She continued punching when she heard a familiar voice come up behind her.

"Want me to hold it for you?," he offered, motioning with his hands.

But she was still in fight mode. She swirled around, grabbing and twisting his arm, and threw him down on the ground. He countered, pinning her down on the floor under him.

"You're beautiful when you're mad, you know?," he laughed out.

She smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_I've missed this,_ she thought to herself as she smiled up at him. It'd been almost a year since she saw him last. "You're lucky I've already worn myself out, you know?," she asked him sarcastically.

"You sure your not going easy on me? I seriously doubt wearing yourself out would stop you from kicking ass if you wanted to," he beamed.

"Yeah I'm going easy on you...and I wore myself out."

"Fair enough."

"I missed you, AJ," he said helping her up off the floor. She jumped into his arms, he lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, leaning in to kiss him. "I guess you missed me to," he said after the rather lengthy kiss.

"What do you think?," she asked looking him right in the eye.

"I think we need a little more privacy, what about you?"

"I agree."

"I have to go," Ande told him, buttoning her jeans and pulling on her shoes.

"Oh come on, AJ," he said, rolling his eyes. "You've barely told me what's been going on with you."

"How 'bout we talk about it over dinner tomorrow night?," she offered. "You can pick me up after practice?"

"Your dad's not going to be mad at you for skipping school?"

"Yeah, he'll be mad, but I can still meet you after practice," she shrugged, hoping he'd agree. She realized how much she'd missed him since he'd left last year. Their relationship wasn't perfect, but it was still pretty good considering neither of them were very good at the whole commitment thing.

"Are you gonna introduce me?" That caught her off guard.

"What?"

"Your dad? Are you going to introduce me to him?" She considered this, never really having thought about it before.

"I...uh...I...um...," she stuttered, unsure of what to say. He smiled.

"I'm just kidding!," he laughed, giving her a smile and hugging her close. "You don't have to. Whatever you feel comfortable with. I know how you are about the whole family thing."

"Thanks," she said, still feeling a little weird about the question, but deciding to move on. "So are we on? Are you going to take me to dinner tomorrow night or what?"

"We're on," he said, smiling.

"See ya tomorrow," she said, giving him a quick kiss before grabbing her bag and leaving.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!," Don yelled, trying to be calm, without success.

"I was running late, and I ran into an old friend," Ande told him, knowing it probably wouldn't bring an end to the topic.

"And that's why you skipped a whole day of school?," he was still yelling, but starting to bring it down a notch.

"Look, it's no big deal. Missing one day isn't that big of a deal," she said casually.

_Unbelievable,_ he thought. Running his fingers through his hair and shaking his head, "OK, look, I'm tired. I had a long day at work. I'm not exactly in the mood to have this out now. Just go to school tomorrow, OK?"

"OK," she was rather stunned by his attitude. She'd noticed he hadn't seemed like himself when he got home, but she was still surprised he hadn't yelled more than he did, not that she was complaining.

Don decided to let it go, he didn't expect it to do much good anyway. To top it off, he couldn't get his case off his mind. He grabbed a beer out of the fridge and joined Alex, who was finishing his homework, in front of the TV. Ande had a lot on her mind so she just went on to bed. Not long after Ande, Alex finished his homework and followed his sister.

"You still mad?," he asked his sister.

"About what?," knowing what he meant, but she didn't really want to talk about it.

"OK, I get it," he knew she didn't want to talk, so he didn't press it. "What friend did you meet?," he asked, curious to know who had her mind elsewhere.

"Mike," she said, avoiding looking at her brother. She knew how he felt about Mike.

"Oh." And that was the end of their conversation for now.

The next day after school Alex went to CalSci to hang out with Charlie and Larry for a while. He enjoyed hanging out with his uncle, even if he didn't know what he was talking about most of the time. The bonus was that he would be able to put off explaining where Ande was tonight, since she'd given in and told him she was going out with Mike. He didn't really have anything against Mike, except for the fact that he knew his mom didn't like him for some reason, and to Alex that was reason enough until he knew the guy better.

When Alex, Charlie, Larry, and Amita got to the craftsman, Don and Megan were already there. Alex still didn't understand how Larry and Megan had a relationship as strong as theirs, but maybe that was only because before a few weeks ago he'd never seen anyone get along as well as this group of family and friends. The food was almost ready when Alan noticed Ande wasn't there.

"Hey Alex, where's Ande?"

"She should be getting out of practice about now, but she won't be here for dinner," he told them.

"Why not?," this time his question was directed to Don, but Alex cut in.

"She's meeting a friend."

"Oh yeah, which friend?," Don asked him curiously. Alan gave his son a disapproving look for not knowing she was going out.

"Mike," Alex said, pretending to go back to his homework.

"Who's Mike?," now Charlie was curious.

"Just a guy," Alex stated casually, trying to drop the subject.

"Is it a date?," Charlie asked, smiling.

"Probably, but with them who knows," Alex said rolling his eyes, not doing a good job of hiding his dislike for Mike.

"What's that suppose to mean?," Don asked, noticing Alex's tone.

Alex sighed, giving in, "It means that with him gone half the time, you never know whether they're still together or not."

"Why's he gone half the time?," Don was starting to get it now, which gave him an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. "How old is he?"

"He's a marine, and he just turned 21 a couple months ago," Alex told them. Charlie and Alan's eyes widened, Amita and Megan were fighting a smirk, Larry started humming casually to avoid being in the conversation, and Don just sat there staring at Alex. "What?," Alex asked, noticing their expressions.

Don wasn't really that surprised, it explains why she didn't really care about skipping school yesterday, but he was still a little stunned to know his daughter was dating a marine almost four years older than her. There was also that gnawing feeling in his stomach, he wasn't sure what that was, but something told him it was probably one of those fatherly instinct things telling him to be worried. _Why didn't she tell me?_, he thought to himself, _Probably thought I'd overreact or something. Wait...am I overreacting? I'm definitely over thinking it, but overreacting? Hmm... Oh man, I wish there was some sort of manual or something to tell me what to do here._

"Your daughter is dating a 21 year old jarhead and you didn't know anything about it?," Alan couldn't believe how calm Don seemed to be over this. Taking the hint, everyone else decided to go out in the backyard to give Don and Alan some privacy.

"Dad, come on," Don stood up to face his father. "She said she ran into an old friend yesterday, how was I suppose to know she meant he was her boyfriend?"

"You didn't even ask you the friend was, though. If you had you would've know she was dating someone who is too old for her."

"It's not like she would have told me if I had asked her," Don knew from experience that you usually don't tell your parents when you're dating someone they wouldn't approve of. "Look, dad, how 'bout you let me handle this, OK?"

"Like you've been handling it?," Alan knew that was a low blow, but he didn't want his son to make the same mistakes in parenting that he'd made. Seeing the look Don was giving him, he decided to let it go. "You're right. I'm sorry, she's your daughter, you handle it."

"Thank you," Don replied. He knew his father meant well, but that didn't mean it wasn't condescending to be told you're doing everything wrong.

"I'm going to go make sure everything is ready," Alan said, giving his son a reassuring smile before walking out of the room.

Don sat back down, face in his hands, and took a deep breath. _This is a lot more complicated than it looks,_ he thought to himself, smiling. Then he heard the floor creak, and looked up to see Alex had come back in and sat down on the couch opposite Don.

"She knows what she's doing," Alex told him.

"What are you talking about?," Don was rather confused by this statement.

"If there's one thing I know about Ande, it's that she hardly ever does something without thinking it through. She always has a reason."

"So what is it this time?"

"I dunno, we don't really talk about it," Alex said. He got uncomfortable talking about his sister's personal stuff.

"Understandable," Don knew he and Charlie didn't talk about that kind of stuff either, and it probably be weirder with a sister. "What about your mom?"

"What about her?" Alex knew where this was going.

"Did she ever meet this Mike guy?"

"Yeah."

"What'd she think about him?" Don saw the look on Alex's face and started to worry. _Did Sarah not want Ande to see this guy? Am I doing something wrong?,_ he started to wonder.

"She liked him okay," Don sighed in relief, "but she said Ande was too much like you, especially in the dating department." Alex got up and left to go help in the kitchen, leaving Don with a worried expression on his face.

_Oh geez..._ Don thought after hearing that. He knew exactly what Sarah had meant by that, and that worried him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was still early when Mike was dropping Ande off at the apartment, and, knowing that Don and Alex were probably still at the craftsman, she decided to take the chance.

"Want to come in for a little while? I'm sure we could find something to watch on TV, or we could keep talking?," she offered.

"You sure? I didn't think you wanted me to meet your dad?," he asked, looking at her apprehensively.

"Yeah. Besides, he and Alex probably haven't gotten back yet anyway."

"What if they have?"

"Then...," she took a deep breath, "I guess you'll meet him after all." She looked him in the eye so that he would believe her.

"OK then." He smiled and kissed her lightly.

She gave him a quick tour of the apartment before they settled down at the counter in the kitchen drinking their sodas. They continued talking a while, covering almost every subject. When she went to the bathroom for a minute, Mike heard the door open in the other room.

"Mike," Alex said, looking rather surprised that Ande had actually taking the risk of Don meeting him.

"Hey Al, long time no see," Mike replied, shaking Alex's hand. "How have you been"

"Good, you?," he was trying to be polite without sounding sarcastic.

"No complaints."

"Who are you?," Don asked when he came into the kitchen and saw Alex talking to someone.

"I'm Mike, you must be Don?," Mike said, standing up and extending his hand. Don shook it, but still looked at him with an odd expression. Alex took the opportunity and excused himself.

"Well, I'm going to go get ready for bed," he told Don. "Nice seeing you again, Mike."

"You too, Al." Mike smiled at Don, wanting to make a good impression. "Guess it's just us now, huh?"

"Where's Ande?," Don asked, ignoring Mike's question.

"She just went to the bathroom," he answered. "She should be back any second."

They stared at each other in awkward silence for a minute, until Don finally spoke.

"So you're a marine?"

"Ande told you?," Mike sounded surprised.

"Alex."

"Right," Mike said, half-laughing. He knew Ande probably hadn't said anything about him. "Yes, I am. Just finished my first tour. I'm on leave for a couple weeks, so I thought I'd visit some old friends and family."

"Congratulations," Don wasn't too impressed, but wasn't too sure of what to say. "How long have you known Ande?"

Mike smiled. "So this is the father-boyfriend interrogation?" He hadn't had many of these, so it was rather amusing to him, especially since it was because of Ande.

"I don't know, never done one before," Don said, being completely honest.

"Well, I've known Ande for 5 years. I don't do drugs. My parents are divorced, and I lived with my dad and stepmom till I joined the marines when I was 18. Did I leave anything out?," Mike rattled off the answers to the generic questions he was sure to be asked.

Don chuckled and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. "Nice. And no I don't think so, but I'll let you know if I think of something." He like the kid's honesty.

"Fair enough." This went better than Mike had expected.

_Oh my God. What the hell are they smiling about?_, Ande thought to herself when she walked in the kitchen to see Mike and Don, seeming to be having a pleasant conversation. "I miss anything," she asked lightly.

"Not to much," Mike told her, hugging her closer.

"Were you nice?," she asked, looking directly at Don.

"What are you talking about? I'm always nice," he answered, smiling and taking a swig of his beer.

Ande just raised up her eyebrows at him. "If you say so," she said turning to face Mike now, who looked at his watch, remembering he had to leave soon.

"Oh crap, I need to get back before Brian locks me out," he told her.

"Are you serious?"

"I'm sorry, but I'll call you tomorrow, I promise," he said, hugging her tight and kissing her head.

"Fine, I'll walk you out," she said, leading him back out.

When she returned, Don had retired to the living room. She joined him on the sofa, just sort of staring at the TV, not really noticing what was on. She could tell he was acting like he wanted to say something, and since she was tired she decided to push it.

"Just spit it out already," she told him.

"Spit what out?," he responded, pretending not to know what she was talking about.

"Whatever it is that you want to say, but are to chicken to," she said bluntly.

He sighed. "Alex told me how you're mom felt about the situation."

Her eyes widened, but continued to stare at the TV, hoping he wasn't talking about what she thought.

Noticing she wasn't going to respond, he continued, "So...are you?"

"Am I what? You?," she shot back, but still avoiding eye contact and pretending to be interested in whatever was on TV.

"You know what I'm talking about?," he said, frustrated. "Are you really going to make me say it? This is just as uncomfortable for me." _Oh man, I can't believe I'm actually having this conversation with her, _he thought.

"Either way, it's none of your business!," she said exasperatedly, and got up and went back to her and Alex's room. Don sighed, somehow knowing this wasn't going to be the last time the subject came up.

When Ande had shut the door behind her, she rummaged through her backpack, pulled out her pack of cigarettes, lit one, and took a long drag. She was definitely a stress smoker, and she was definitely stressed now. She pulled out a magazine, hoping it would distract her. When Alex walked in the room and saw her de-stressing, he swallowed and took a few deep breaths before saying anything.

"Was the date really that bad?," he jokingly asked. She scowled at him until he spoke again. "OK, I'm sorry! But it's not like we planned a whole story or anything. They would have found out eventually," he half apologized, half argued.

"You told him I was sleeping with Mike!," She stood up and threw her magazine on the bed.

"Not exactly," he said in a lower volume, receiving another scowl. "OK, fine I'm sorry I told him. Forgive me?"

"Whatever, just forget it," she shrugged, sitting back down and returning to her cigarette.

"Fine," he said, sitting down on his bed. "You know he's gonna catch you smoking that, don't you?, he chuckled, receiving a pillow to the head for it.

Everything was kind of peaceful for the next few days. Alex had dove into his schoolwork, Ande was hanging out with Mike more, and Don was quiet, absorbed in a case at work.

One night, after Mike had dropped Ande off, she was getting her homework out of the living room when she noticed Don had left a case file on the coffee table. _Alex must be asleep,_ she thought when she saw he'd left it open. Don was still in the other room, _Why not?, _she thought, and started skimming over it.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Don was back, furious she was looking at his case file, slamming it shut.

"Don't worry, I didn't get a chance to read anything," she lied casually. She could tell something was going on. "Is this why you've been acting weird lately?," she asked, motioning to the file.

"What are you talking about?," he asked, much calmer now.

"You've been unusually quiet lately, and I'm assuming this is why."

"Yeah? Well, maybe you shouldn't be assuming, then," he snapped back.

"So, you're just still pissed because you think me and Mike are sleeping together?" She was watching his expression. _Yeah, he's definitely hiding something, _she thought.

"Tell you what," he countered, "you tell me whether you are or aren't sleeping with him, and I'll tell you why I've been acting weird."

"Point taken," she said, grabbing her backpack, and heading off to bed.

_Am I that obvious?, _Don wondered to himself after she left. He sat down on the couch, reading over the file once more, and put his head in his hands. _This is crazy, _he thought, closing the file.

The next day Alex and Ande went over to Charlie's after practice. Charlie was telling Amita how he'd helped out on one of Don's cases, and Alan was cooking, while Ande and Alex were working on their homework. Charlie's cell phone rang, and after answering he went pale. Alan came back in the living room, and noticed Charlie's reaction as he'd hung up the phone.

"Charlie, what is it?," Alan asked, everyone with cautious looks on their faces.

"Th-that w-was M-Megan," he stuttered, Alan looked concerned now, "Don's just been arrested." Everyone stared at each other. "For...murder."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Ande and Alex were the first out the door. They were both unusually quiet on the ride to the FBI office. When they all got there, Megan met them at the elevators to try and explain what had happened. She was explaining, as they watched in a sort of state of shock, that when they arrived at the original crime scene they found bullets matching Don's gun. She told them that he had tried to deny ever being there, but after they showed him all the evidence, he finally admitted that he had killed the guy.

Alan was silent. He just sat down, and didn't say anything. Charlie was muttering, stumbling over words, and wasn't able to form complete words. Amita was confused, and trying to comfort Charlie. Alex and Ande stared at each other, each knowing neither of them knew what to think, both with lots of questions.

"Can we see him?," the twins asked at the same time.

Megan could see the look in their eyes, which depressed her somewhat since they had Don's eyes. "OK, follow me."

They paused when they reached the interrogation room where Don was being held, while Megan was talking the agent, who had taken over the investigation, into letting Ande and Alex talk to Don. Alex was starting to really freak out, and Ande could tell.

_Just when we started to have a normal life again..., _she couldn't finish that thought. Nor, could she avoid the feeling that there was something they were missing, but she couldn't make herself think about that now. "Are you sure you're up to this?," Ande asked her brother.

"Yeah, I'm fine, sis," he replied, trying to put on a brave face. But it wasn't working.

"You don't look fine."

"Yeah, well, neither do you." And she knew she probably looked as freaked as he did.

"OK, Nickalson said you can have 5 minutes," Megan said as she came back over. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Two identical stares were the answer. "OK, come on." She led them into the room, then left to give them some privacy.

Don, Ande, and Alex sat in silence for a minute. They all looked at each other, trying to figure out what to say. Alex was still freaking out, so much so he had to sit down. Ande still had that gut feeling telling her something was off, well other than the obvious. Don was trying to find words to make them feel better, but wasn't having much success.

"Look I'-," Don started, but was interrupted by Alex.

"Just tell us why!," Alex said, in a tone that sounded more like Ande. Ande and Don both look at him, a little surprised.

"I- we-...," Don was struggling with the words. He didn't know how to explain what was going on to his team, let alone his kids. "I don't know," he finally said, and it was true. He didn't understand why he'd killed the guy, but he couldn't exactly explain that to anyone, especially Ande and Alex.

Alex was still in shock and couldn't take this anymore. He got up and walked out, without another word. However, Ande did notice he looked like he was on the verge of tears. She knew how hard this was hitting her brother.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Ande was targeting her frustrations onto Don, but she also wanted answers. "Do you know what this is doing to him? It's eating him up inside!"

"I'm SORRY!," Don raised his voice and slammed his hand on the table. He winced when this action caused the handcuffs to dig into his wrist. Ande just stared at him, not noticing the looks from everyone outside the room, and waited for him to say something else. Taking a deep breath he continued, "Look, I'm sorry. I know this is hard...on **both** of you." He emphasized the word both, and looked up at her, hoping she'd believe he meant it.

Ande knew what he was doing. She pulled the chair over next to his and sat down, folding her hands in front of her mouth. "Then why?," he sighed, she shook her head, "No, don't give me that crap! If you're sorry and you know what it's doing to us, then why are you doing this?"

He looked puzzled. "What are you talking about?," he asked her, but her stare told him what he needed to know. "You didn't," he said, shaking his head. "How much?," he asked, rubbing his hand over his face.

"Well, basically everything," she told him hesitantly. He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. "Why didn't you tell us? Prepare us?," she asked, getting him to look up at her again.

"I couldn't tell you guys," he told her quietly. "I still can't." She just stared at him in disbelief. "Look," he said, cupping her face in his hands. "you can't say anything either. Look, I know this is hard," she was trying to get up, but he held her there, making her look at him again, "but don't worry, OK? Everything will work out."

She was looking at him, trying to keep her emotions in check. "You promise?," she asked, knowing he'd keep his promise.

He smiled at her, and half chuckled. "I promise."

"I trust you." She smiled back.

Megan walked in with a man, who Ande presumed to be Agent Nickalson, and told them time was up. Ande just sat there, trying to keep her cool.

"Take care of your brother," Don told her, kissing her forehead. She was having a harder time struggling with her emotions.

"Always," she said, smiling at him.

"Let's go," Nickalson said, grabbing Don and leading him out.

"You OK?," Megan asked Ande, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine," Ande told her, shrugging her off, and got up and walked out. Megan followed.

When Ande walked out, Alex came over and hugged her. Megan joined David and Colby at their desks, where Alan, Charlie, and Amita had already congregated. Ande was still holding her brother as they all watched Nickalson take Don away.

**To be continued...**


End file.
